Blackwell Reference Online

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Then Courts of Kings were held in high Renown, E're made the common Brothels of the Town: There, Virgins honourable Vows receiv'd, But chast as Maids in Monasteries liv'd: The King himself to Nuptual Ties a Slave, No bad Example to his Poets gave: And they not bad, but in a vicious Age Had not to please the Prince debauch'd the Stage. John Dryden, translation of Chaucer's ‘The Wife of Bath's Tale’, ll. 61–8 Monarchy and theatre were closely connected during the early modern period in England. A court official, initially the Master of the Revels, scrutinized plays for indecent, irreligious or treasonable materials, and great courtiers patronized theatre companies. Monarchy had lost much of its numinous medieval sacerdotal ethos but gained the splendour of Renaissance showmanship. Henry VIII invested in spectacular pageant tournaments and Elizabeth I turned the realm into a stage with her elaborate progresses through England. Indeed, in a Renaissance commonplace, she drew attention to the theatricality of her position, famously stating ‘We Princes are set on stages, in the sight and view of all the world duly observed’ ( Neale 1965 , 2: 119). The stage and the glittering world of the court were made for each other: they reflected back on each other and confirmed each other's validity. But it was also an uneasy relationship. Dramas did not always flatter monarchs; indeed, given the ... log in or subscribe to read full text